NFL re-issues bounty discipline**UPDATED**

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; Originally Posted by Radical
There's no way to prove intent, but if you're paying for injuries, which is what paying for cart-offs is, then you're encouraging it.
That's the whole point of it. The Saints encouraged players to cause injury ...

There's no way to prove intent, but if you're paying for injuries, which is what paying for cart-offs is, then you're encouraging it.
That's the whole point of it. The Saints encouraged players to cause injury via payment, hence the discipline.

I guess you don't have an actual response, other than regurgitate Goodell's position. Fine.

I guess you don't have an actual response, other than regurgitate Goodell's position. Fine.

What's there to argue? If the guy who was in charge of it all is admitting to it, what more needs to be said. So far, I've been given nothing but semantics games. You got a guy telling his players to go take out another player's ACL, people paying money for knocking players out of the game, etc.

The insanity of some of the stuff I've read from Saints fans since the start sounds about like the crap I was reading when the dog fighting case broke with Vick. It was all a big conspiracy theory, etc.

Now, let me ask you, remember 2010 and the fines Dunta Robinson got for spearing WRs, all illegal hits? Remember your coach saying "that is how we coach them" when asked about Robinson's hits? What do you think about that? Is your coach coaching his team to intentionally hurt players? After all, they are coaching players to lay illegal hits...

Regardless of the league's sloppy investigation, questionable evidence, legal battles and the tremendous hits on Goodell's credibility in recent months, the NFL commissioner could not back down now.
Not after a CBA appeals panel, which forced him to reconsider the previous discipline, upheld his authority to rule based on "conduct detrimental to the game."WHAT'S NEXT? This is going back to court

Remember when the league announced its findings in March? It said 22 to 27 players were involved. Just four were punished. One day, Vitt's name showed up on the typed transcript of a ledger as one pledging $5,000 for a bounty on Brett Favre. The next day, the league said it was a mistake. That's some typo.

Sloppy. Like the charge by NFL investigators that Hargrove was seen on a video uttering "pay me my money" when Favre was briefly knocked out of the 2009 NFC title game. Turns out, that probably wasn't Hargrove's voice — or least there's no proof.
Then there's the whistle-blower, Mike Cerullo.
The former, low-ranking coaching assistant is viewed with suspicion by the defense because he was fired by the Saints. But he was so crucial to the league's investigation.

The holes in this case did no good for Goodell's reputation. In a recent Gallup poll conducted for USA TODAY Sports, Goodell was the least-liked commissioner among those running the four major pro sports leagues.
But he still has his power to rule in what he deems to be the best interests of the game. While the players grumble about this, shifting some of that authority would have been a deal killer in the last round of labor talks.
Fat chance that power is up for renegotiation now.

Glad to see we are all passionate about this issue, but in the grand scheme of things, it's a moot point. Saints season at 1-4 is pretty much done with at this point, sure a miraculous comeback could happen, but not likely. As much as we all love Vilma and Smith, we should understand this is probably their last season with the Saints. Did they get screwed, yes, but it is what it is.

Even if Payton was still coaching the team, this season is one that would have probably played out just like it is doing now. The NFL is all about parity and this time is the Saints turn to go down for a minute.

I totally expect this offseason to be somewhat of a rebuilding/retooling year. Payton should be able to comeback fully charged and focused. Sure, there are still games to be played in 2012, but now the focus should be towards 2013.

You still haven't explained to me Guido the difference between paying to injure and paying for cart-offs. I've never seen a non-injured player get carted off the field. It's like if I told you I was going to have you put in a body bag, but denying that it means I'm going to have you killed.

Live people end up in body bags all the time.. Maybe you are a movie director and that is part of the script?

Then again dead people end up in body bags all of the time also when there was no intent to kill. That is called collateral damage... or in some less dramatic situations, natural causes.

That being said you need to be banned for a period of 8 games for telling someone you could tell someone else to kill them... And for attempting to put a forum member in a body bag... they could suffocate you know? <---- Sucks azz being on the receiving end of Goodell reasoning doesn't it?